‘The Last Battle’: La Souffel, 28th June 1815 (A Scenario for ‘Napoleon’s Battles’)

Ask anyone to name the last battle of the Napoleonic Wars and the answer in 99% of cases will be ‘Waterloo’.  However, the war continued for some time after Napoleon’s catastrophic defeat.  The remainder of the war for the most part consisted of sieges, assaults on forts, small actions and clashes of outposts, but before the war finally ended there was one more large battle fought between two armies in the open field.  This battle occurred ten days after Waterloo on 28th June 1815, along the River La Souffel (or ‘Suffel’), just outside the fortress-city of Strasbourg.  It resulted in a victory for the French Army of the Rhine, commanded by General Rapp.

However, unlike the other major battles of 1815, the details of this battle are extremely scant, with General Rapp’s memoir providing the most detailed description of the battle though being frustratingly vague in many places.  Further details can be gleaned in the published reports to London from a few British liaison officers, as well as footnotes in other histories, the ever-essential orders of battle by George Nafziger and some very detailed online discussions on fora such as The Napoleon Series.

Although some of the details still require a fair degree of guesswork, La Souffel is a very interesting, modestly-sized battle that should provide an excellent game within a reasonable timeframe.  It’s certainly not one I’ve wargamed before, chiefly as the essential details are only really now available to be discovered thanks to the wealth of information now available online.

As always, this scenario is written for Napoleon’s Battles rules, where each unit represents a brigade or large regiment at a ratio of roughly 1:100.  The scenario would be easily adapted for similarly-scaled rules such as Age of Eagles or Général d’Armée.

Historical Background: The Hundred Days on the Rhine

Following Napoleon’s sudden return to power in 1815 he rapidly built up France’s armies to face the inevitable military response by his enemies.  By the end of May, he had rebuilt the army from 56,000 to 198,000 men.  The I, II, III, IV & VI Corps, the Imperial Guard Corps and the Cavalry Reserve, stationed along France’s northern borders and Paris, would become the Army of the North and would march north with the Emperor.  The rest of France was very sparsely defended by a number of ‘armies’, each being at most only the strength of a weak corps.  However, Napoleon hoped that with the advantage of interior lines, he could quickly knock out the  Allied armies individually as they appeared before turning to face the next one, much as he had tried (and ultimately failed) to do in Germany in 1813 and France in 1814.

The strongest of the subsidiary ‘armies’ defending France was the Army of the Rhine (otherwise known as the V Corps) under Général de Division Jean Rapp, centred on the fortress city of Strasbourg.  By mid-June this formation had around 24,000 men under command, organised into three infantry divisions (Rottembourg’s 15th, Albert’s 16th & Grandjean’s 17th), a light cavalry division (Merlin’s 7th), a reasonably strong artillery component and a weak reserve division comprising Gardes-Nationale militia, commanded by General Berckheim.  Although pretty anaemic as an army, as an army corps it was actually stronger than most.

The Allied Powers, then convened at the Congress of Vienna, scrambled to form a new Seventh Coalition and to mobilise forces to oppose Napoleon.  Wellington’s Anglo-Allied Army in the Netherlands and Blücher’s Prussian Army of the Lower Rhine were among the quickest to assemble and being close to Frances’s northern border, were Napoleon’s most immediate threat and would be tackled first.  The Russians would of course, take some considerable time to appear in the theatre of war.

The various south-western German states (Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Hessen-Darmstädt, etc), would be able to mobilise and arrive on the French border relatively quickly, but would operate under the command of Prince Schwarzenberg’s Austrian Army of the Upper Rhine.  This would take some time to assemble as the very large Austrian component was assembled from across the Austrian Empire.  Matters were further complicated for Austria when Joachim Murat, the King of Naples, declared war on Austria in March 1815, thus kicking off the Neapolitan War.  This was resolved with Murat’s defeat in May, but forced Austria to divert considerable forces and materiel at a time when they needed to build up their forces in western Germany and northern Italy.

Nevertheless, by mid-June, Schwarzenberg had assembled an army of over 260,000 men on the eastern bank of the Rhine, outnumbering Rapp’s tiny command by more than ten-to-one.  This massive force comprised the Austrian I Corps, Austrian II Corps, the ‘Austrian’ III Corps (which was actually mostly Württemberger, with Austrian and Hessen-Darmstädt divisions), the IV (Bavarian) Corps, ‘Austrian’ Reserve Corps (again including a lot of allied German contingents, especially Badener), a multi-national Blockade Corps and a Saxon Corps.  To this was added Count Lambert’s Russian Corps, being the advance guard element of Barclay de Tolly’s Russian Army, the bulk of which was still weeks away.

Schwarzenberg’s plan required the Right Wing, consisting of the Crown Prince of Württemberg’s III Corps and Wrede’s IV Corps, with Lambert’s Russian Corps guarding the right flank, to cross the Rhine north of Strasbourg and then swing around to cross the Saar and cut Strasbourg off from its western lines of communication to Nancy, Metz and the Vosges Mountains.  The rest of the army would form the Left Wing under the command of Archduke Ferdinand.  This would cross the Rhine to the south and would drive on Nancy from the south, aiming to cut off Strasburg’s lines of communication with the interior of France.  Barclay de Tolly’s Russian Army would also aim to concentrate at Nancy as they arrived and would eventually form up on Schwarzenberg’s right as they advanced into France.

Cautious as to Napoleon’s intentions, Schwarzenberg’s army remained stationary until at last Schwarzenberg received word of Napoleon’s invasion of the Netherlands.  Spurred into action at last, Schwarzenberg issued his orders.  However, by the time those orders were acted upon, the Battle of Waterloo was already being fought!

Wrede’s IV (Bavarian) Corps crossed the Rhine on 19th June, followed by the Crown Prince of Württemberg’s III Corps.  In response, Rapp marched his corps north to meet the invaders, intending initially to defend the line of the River Queich (which forms a natural barrier, extending east from the dense Pfälzerwald forest, through the small fortified town of Landau to the Rhine) before falling back to defend the ‘Lines of Wissembourg’.  This chain of fortifications had been built in 1706 by Marshal Villars and stretched between Wissembourg and the densely-forested hills of the Mundat Forest to the west, along the River Lauter, to Lauterbourg on the banks of the Rhine, to the east.  These fortifications had been fought over during the War of Spanish Succession and the War of Austrian Succession and again during the War of the First Coalition in 1793.  However, Rapp now found the Lines to be in a very sorry state of repair and almost indefensible in their current state.

Only Rapp’s advance guard was able to reach the Queich before Allied troops from the Crown Prince of Württemberg’s III Corps were present in significant numbers.  Rapp therefore had to content himself with reinforcing the garrison of Landau with a battalion and conducting a skirmish along the river, before falling back to the Lines of Wissembourg.

It was at this time, on or around the 21st June, that Rapp received word of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.  Rapp decided not to tell his men about this catastrophe, fearing what it might do for their morale.  One account also says that Napoleon had ordered Rapp to march to Paris, but Rapp made no mention of this in his memoir.  Nevertheless, Rapp must have received some form of communication from the Emperor, as on 25th June, Lieutenant Colonel George Jenkinson (Royal Horse Artillery), the British liaison officer to Crown Prince of Württemberg’s headquarters, reported that Rapp had written to the Crown Prince during the previous day, advising him that Napoleon had on 22nd June formally abdicated in favour of his infant son (who was at the time a ward of his grandfather, the Austrian Emperor Francis).  The Crown Prince surmised (probably correctly) that this was merely a play for time rather than a serious overture for an armistice and operations therefore continued.

In any case, Wrede’s IV (Bavarian) Corps had on 23rd June, seized the crossings over the River Saar at Saarbrücken and Sarreguemines and by the 24th was in full flood across Rapp’s lines of communication to the west.  The fortress of Bitche was blockaded and called out to surrender (which they refused), while Bavarian cavalry penetrated as far south as Saarlouis.  Lambert’s Russians followed in Wrede’s wake and pushed west to observe the fortress of Metz and the River Moselle.  As Wrede continued to advance on Lunéville and Nancy, any hope that Rapp had  held of retreating to the west or linking up with forces at Metz now vanished (General Gérard’s French IV Corps had been posted at Metz a few weeks earlier, but had been called away by the Emperor to join his doomed march on Brussels).

With Rapp having established a new defensive position along the decrepit Lines of Wissembourg, the Crown Prince’s III Corps advanced to contact, leaving Count Wallmoden-Gimborn’s Corps (a divisional-sized multi-national formation from the Austrian Reserve) to blockade Landau.  As the Crown Prince formed up in preparation for the assault across the River Lauter, Rapp was finally able to gain a full appreciation of the disparity in numbers.  Having left one of Rottembourg’s brigades to guard the flank and rear along the Rhine, Rapp had only around 11,000 men to guard 12 miles of ruined fortifications and was outnumbered at a ratio of roughly 4:1!  With the Allied assault expected at dawn on the 25th, Rapp’s army quietly slipped away southward during the night of 24th June.

As Rapp retreated back toward Strasbourg, he would be forced to pass through the large Forest of Haguenau.  There would then be an opportunity to turn on his pursuers at the village of Surbourg, which guards the entrance to the only practicable route through the forest.  At the eastern end of the forest, one of Rottembourg’s brigades garrisoned Seltz, which guards the narrow defile between the forest and the Rhine.

The Crown Prince did not disappoint, as on the 26th his advance guard immediately launched an attack on Rapp’s rearguard, which stood on the high ground north of Surbourg.  The Württemburg cavalry were given a bloody nose and fell back to await the arrival of Austrian infantry, but the French rearguard then fell back over the River Sur to repeat the exercise.

The situation was repeated at Seltz, where Wallmoden’s Corps, having left a detachment to watch Landau, launched itself at the French flank-guard.  Accounts are conflicting, but the assault seems to have been bloodily repulsed before Rottembourg fell back to the next position.  Both sides claimed victory at both actions, but on balance they seem to have been very effective rearguard actions by the French; inflicting damage and delay on the enemy, followed by counter-attack before falling back to the next defensive position.

However, it was during this period of rearguard and withdrawal that Rapp’s men discovered the truth about Napoleon’s defeat and became mutinous!  Rapp discovered that one regiment, of impeccable fighting reputation, was already formed up with its supporting battery limbered, preparing to march off without orders to the Vosges Mountains and from there mount a guerrilla campaign.  Seizing their Eagle, Rapp exhorted them to retain their honour and stand with him in the defence of France.  This seemed to work and the men cheered him before returning to their duties.

With mutiny averted and having passed through the Forest of Haguenau, Rapp’s rearguard made another stand at Haguenau on the 27th before falling back once again after a sharp skirmish.  Rapp considered offering battle at Brumath (aka Brumpt), but with Rottembourg’s 15th Division still detached and with Wrede’s Bavarians making unchecked progress in the west, Rapp decided to fall back to a more defensible position along the River La Souffel, in front of the walls of Strasbourg itself.  At last, Rapp’s army was united and formed up along the river.

On the morning of 28th June, Rottembourg’s 15th Division formed up on the right of Rapp’s army, in front of the village of Hönheim, with his right resting upon the River Ill and his left on the village of Souffelweiersheim.  Albert’s 16th Division formed up on the left, with his left flank resting upon the Hausbergen ridge.  The left bastion of the defence was formed by the village of Mundolsheim, which had been prepared for defence by Général de Brigade Beurmann and the 10ème Légère.  One battalion of the 10ème Légère had also been posted on the north bank of the river, to fortify and hold the village of Lampertheim, which guarded the northern end of one of the few bridges.  Grandjean’s 17th Division and Merlin’s 7th Light Cavalry Division were held in reserve near Bischheim and Berckheim’s Reserve Division of Gardes-Nationale was also somewhere in the vicinity.

The Battle of La Souffel

Accounts of the Battle or La Souffel are fragmentary, contradictory and brief.  Jenkinson’s and Rapp’s accounts of the day read as though they are of completely different events.  Note also that Rapp’s memoir (and those accounts drawn from Rapp’s account) often refers to ‘Austrians’ where there were no Austrian forces present.  It makes far more sense when we take ‘Austrian’ to mean ‘Allied’ or ‘enemy’.  Anyway, here’s my best stab at describing the action.  Any mistakes or misunderstandings are entirely of my own making …

The Crown Prince wasted no time on deploying his troops for a deliberate assault on Rapp’s line, instead throwing his divisions straight into the assault as they arrived on the battlefield.  Palombini’s Austrian division, forming the right flank of the army, was the first to arrive and was ordered to assault the detachment holding Lampertheim.  The battalion of the 10ème Légère posted there apparently did massive damage to the hasty Austrian attack, but faced by overwhelming numbers was forced to fall back over the bridge to the regiment’s main position in Mundolsheim.

As Prince Emil’s Hessen-Darmstädt Division arrived, it too was thrown into the assault, attacking Mundolsheim from across the river to the east, while Palombini’s Austrians attacked from Lampertheim.  Graf Kinsky’s Austrian hussars meanwhile, found more crossing-points to the west and was soon joined by some of Palombini’s Austrian infantry, who moved up to attack Albert’s left flank on the Hausbergen Ridge.

General Beurmann and the 10ème Légère somehow managed to beat off repeated assaults, but soon found themselves completely surrounded and cut off from the rest of Rapp’s army.  A counter-attack by the 32ème de Ligne of Albert’s Division relieved the situation for a while, but with the arrival of Franquemont’s Württemberg Corps, a wedge was driven between Rapp’s two leading divisions and the 10ème Légère were once again isolated and cut off from support.

As Albert’s 16th Division was pushed back on Hönheim, Rottembourg’s 15th Division wheeled left to face the renewed threat.  Rapp ordered Grandjean to send a brigade forward from the reserve (the 36ème and 103ème de Ligne) to hold the centre.  The 36ème relieved the defenders of Souffelweiersheim but then, for reasons that aren’t clear, were then pulled back out of the village in order to mount a counter-attack to relieve the beleaguered 10ème Légère.

This counter-attack proved to be successful and the heroic General Beurmann with his 10ème Légère were finally able to withdraw from Mundolsheim, but there was now a huge hole in the centre, through which the Württembergers poured!

Franquemont’s Württemberg infantry swarmed across the river and occupied Souffelsweierheim before Rapp could react.  Nevertheless, Rapp quickly organised a counter-attack and Generals Fririon and Gudin moved forward.  Despite initial success, Württemberg reinforcements arrived and the French were able to make no further headway in recapturing the village.

A great mass of Württemberg infantry and cavalry, supported by a large number of guns, now appeared in the centre, aiming to drive across the main Brumath Road bridge between Souffelweirsheim and Mundolsheim.  Prince Adam led his Württemberg Cavalry Division across the bridge in an audacious charge, which sabred at least one French battery before it had time to escape (two French battery commanders were killed while defending their guns, so it may have been two batteries, but one complete French horse battery was captured and the guns taken away as trophies before the French could counter-attack).  Some Württemberg cavalry apparently got so carried away in the pursuit, that they came within range of the guns on the walls of Strasbourg!  With the Allies now in full flood across the river and driving into the French centre, the critical moment of the battle had now been reached.

However, in driving deep into the French position, the Württembergers had exposed their left flank to Rottembourg’s division, which had already wheeled left to face just such an eventuality.  Rottembourg’s artillery poured a devastating fire into the Württemberg flank.  With the Württembergers now wavering, Rapp drew his sabre and placing himself at the head of two of Merlin’s cavalry regiments (the 7ème Chasseurs à Cheval & 11ème Dragons), launched a charge into the disordered enemy!

The effect of this timely charge was clearly devastating.  In Rapp’s own words, “I routed the first line, penetrated the second, and overthrew every thing that offered me any resistance.  We made a dreadful slaughter of the Austrian and Württemberg cavalry.  At the same time the 32nd came up at the charge in close columns, and prevented them from rallying.  They were thrown back on their own infantry, whom they put to flight.

General Rottembourg, on his side, pushed forward his right wing, and opened on the enemy, who defiled in confusion before his columns, a most destructive fire of artillery and musquetry; in an instant the field of battle is covered with the slain, and the immense army of the Prince of Württemberg is routed.  The defeat was so complete that baggage, which was two leagues in the rear, was attacked and plundered, and the Prince himself lost his equipages.  The confusion extended itself as far as Haguenau, and would have gone still farther if 30,000 Russians, who came up from Weissembourg, had not by their presence encouraged the fugitives.”

Rapp’s heavily-outnumbered Army of the Rhine had won a remarkable victory at La Souffel, but what was it all for?  Immediately following the battle, Rapp withdrew his army into Strasbourg fortress, which was what the Allies had been trying to achieve all along.  If nothing else, Rapp had regained some of France’s wounded pride and honour, but at the expense of over 2,000 men killed on each side.  The battle also had consequences for the local civilians in the immediate aftermath, as the Crown Prince of Württemberg took his frustration out on them, burning the village of Souffelweiersheim and threatening the parish priest, seemingly out of petty vengeance.

With Rapp having refused all entreaties to surrender, the Crown Prince blockaded Strasbourg.  However, he lacked a siege train and in any case, didn’t have the numbers to formally besiege a fortress as large as Strasbourg, so Rapp was able to mount numerous sorties and expeditions outside the walls.

On 4th July the Crown Prince’s III Corps was relieved by Hohenzollern-Hechingen’s Austrian II Corps.  Hostilities finally came to an end with the news of the fall of Paris and the signing of a local armistice in Alsace on 24th July.  However, Rapp’s problems were not over.  His men, fearing not being paid for their service upon demobilisation, mutinied and took over the fortress and held the officers hostage, demanding their back-pay!  At last however, the mutiny was resolved on 5th September and the Army of the Rhine, the last standing formation of Napoleon’s army, was finally dissolved.

Game Outline

The game starts with the Allied 1430hrs turn and ends with the French 2100hrs turn, so the game lasts for 14 turns or until the Allied victory conditions have been met.  The battle actually ended long before nightfall, so this could be shortened to 12 or 10 turns if preferred.

Although the number of troops wasn’t all that vast, the battle was fought over quite a large area, so the table is 8′ x 6′.  Each grid-square on the map is equivalent to one square foot on the table or 1,000 Prussian ‘paces’ (‘schritte’), as per the map below.

[N.B. Having been working on the assumption that a ‘schritt’ was ‘about a yard’, I’ve since discovered that a ‘schritt’ was only about 2 feet, or two thirds of an Imperial yard.  This map could probably therefore be reduced in size by a third, to around 6′ x 4′, but I can’t be arsed…]

Victory Conditions

Very simply, the Allies need to break the French army’s morale in order to force them back into Strasbourg fortress.  The French just have to frustrate the Allies’ objective in order to achieve victory, though of course they will win a glorious victory if they succeed in breaking the Allied army’s morale.

III Austrian-Allied Corps Order of Battle

Feldmarschall Kronprinz Friedrich Wilhelm Karl von Württemberg
9”E(10)+0 (6 Free Rolls)

Württemberg Corps (Centre)

Feldzeugmeister Friedrich Graf von Franquemont                           8”G(5)+1 [4F]

1st Württemberg Division – Generalleutnant Christian Johann Gottgetrau von Koch      3”A(6)+0
Kirchberg’s Brigade (IR 2, IR 4 & IR 5)                                               28 WtLN [17D]
Misani’s Brigade (IR 3 & IR 7)                                                               24 WtLN [14D]
Lalance’s Brigade (IR 8)                                                                          16 WtLN [10D]

2nd Württemberg Division – Generalleutnant von Döring      3”G(6)+1
Stockmayer’s Brigade (IR 6)                                                                  16 WtLN [10D]
Hügel’s Brigade (IR 9, IR 10 & IR 11)                                                   28 WtJG [14D]

Württemberg Cavalry Division – Generalleutnant Prinz Adam von Württemberg      3”G(6)+0
Jett’s Brigade (CR 2 & CR 4)                                                                    12 WtLC [6D]
Moltke’s Brigade (CR 3 & CR 5)                                                              12 WtLC [6D]
1st Horse Battery                                                                                        Wt6#
2nd Horse Battery                                                                                      Wt6#

Württemberg Artillery Reserve
12pdr Foot Battery                                                                                      Wt12#

Right Wing (Temporary Corps)

Feldmarschalleutnant Giuseppe Federico Palombini                          5”G(4)+0 [3F]

Austrian Division (Palombini) – Generalmajor Franz Graf Kinsky  3”A(5)+0
Kinsky’s Brigade (HR 6)                                                                             20 AsLC [10D]
Luxembourg’s Brigade (IR 18 & IR 47)                                                   28 AsLN [17D]
Czollich’s Brigade (IR 49 & IR 63)                                                           28 AsLN [17D]
12pdr Position Battery                                                                                As12#

Hessen-Darmstädt Division – Generalleutnant Prinz Emil von Hesse  4”G(7)+1
Folhenius’ Brigade (Leibgarde, Garde-Füsilier & Erbgrossherzog IRs)  16 HsGD [6D]
Gall’s Brigade (Prinz Emil & Leib IRs)                                                    24 HsLN [12D]

Left Wing (Flanking Corps)

German Division – Feldmarschalleutnant Ludwig Graf von Wallmoden-Gimborn 4”A(7)+0 [2F]
Ysenburg-Büdingen’s Rhenish Brigade                                                  20 RhLN [12D]
La Roche-Starkenfeld’s Baden Landwehr Brigade                               20 BdLW [14D]
4 Sqns, Austrian Chevauléger-Regiment 1 ‘Kaiser’                               8 AsLC [4D]

Allied Order of Battle Notes

1.  III Korps was officially an ‘Austrian’ corps, though in reality was a multinational formation, led by the Württembergers, hence the ‘Austrian-Allied’ tag.  Very strong for an army corps, III Korps was a de facto army, with the Württembergers organised in their own ‘corps within a corps’ under Franquemont.

2.  The Württemberg brigades are very unbalanced in strength, so I’ve shifted some strength from Kirchberg’s and Hügel’s colossal brigades to Lalance’s & Stockmayer’s brigades in an attempt to slightly balance things out.

3.  I’ve shifted the strength of the Hessian ‘Erbgrossherzog’ Infantry Regiment to Gall’s brigade in order to separate the two Guard regiments of Folhenius’s brigade as a dedicated Guard brigade and have Gall’s brigade as the Line brigade.  Feel free to reverse the strengths if you prefer, though you’ll then have to decide whether or not to class Folhenius’ large brigade as Guards.

4.  Pallombini appears to have been placed in command of the right wing, consisting of his own Austrian Division and Prinz Emil’s Hessian Division.  Pallombini has therefore been elevated to the position of Temporary Corps Commander, with a slightly increased command-span.  For game purposes, I’ve arbitrarily appointed a random brigade commander (Graf Kinsky) to take command of Palombini’s division.

5.  As the Napoleon’s Battles site has gone down, I’m using the generalship ratings from the 1st Edition Red Module for Palombini and Prinz Emil (though it strangely says that Prinz Emil died in 1813 – he was taken prisoner by the Prussians at Leipzig, but didn’t die!).  However, I’ve got no ratings whatsoever for Döring or Koch, so have just given them very average base stats (though Döring gets a boost from the presence of the hard-fighting veteran Major Generals Stockmayer and Hügel).

6.  I’ve been unable to establish the first name of Generalleutnant von Döring.

7.  By a process of elimination with there being a few Grafs Kinsky on the Austrian Army List, I think that this Graf Kinsky must be Franz de Paula Joseph Graf Kinsky von Wschinitz und Tettau (aged 46), as he was the only Graf Kinsky still alive and still serving with the rank of Generalmajor at the time.  The family at the time also included the still-serving Feldmarschalleutnant Karl Graf Kinsky and the retired Generalmajor Philipp Joseph Graf Kinsky.

8.  There is some disagreement in sources regarding the identity of Württemberg and Hessian brigade commanders, with some sources showing Hohenlohe in lieu of Kirchberg and Stockmayer elsewhere (commanding the Württemberg Landwehr), with Lalance commanding both IR 6 & IR 8.  They also show all the infantry grouped under Koch, with no divisional command under Döring.  Some also describe the army as being commanded by Duke Eugène of Württemberg, but that is definitely wrong.  One source shows Generalmajor Schönberg commanding the Hessian 2nd Brigade instead of Gall.

9.  The Württemberg reserve 12pdr battery may be commanded by either of the Württemberg infantry divisional commanders.

10.  Thoughts and Wafflings on Wallmoden’s Corps:  A divisional-sized ‘corps’ commanded by the Austrian Feldmarshalleutnant Ludwig Georg Thedel Graf von Wallmoden-Gimborn formed the detached Left Wing of the Crown Prince of Württemberg’s command.  A grandson of King George II (his father Johann having been an illegitimate son of the King, though holding high office in Hanover), Wallmoden was then serving as an Austrian officer, having previously held Hanoverian, Prussian, Austrian, British and then Russian commissions.  Wallmoden had made a name for himself as a light cavalry commander during the Battle of Wagram in 1809 and as the leader of the multi-national corps fighting in northern Germany 1813-14.

However, Wallmoden’s active participation in the Battle of La Souffel is a matter of some debate.  His corps had already fought a sharp action on 26th June against Rottembourg’s Division at Seltz and although some thumbnail biographies mention his involvement at La Souffel, Lt Col George Jenkinson mentioned that “The division of Count Wallmoden took no part in the action… opposed as they were by a well-known position, which the enemy occupied, between the Ill and the Rhine.”  This was probably the fortified bridgehead at Englisch-Hof, held by Berckheim’s Garde-Nationale, so in game terms, Wallmoden probably did appear ‘on the table’, but didn’t actively engage the enemy.  I’ve therefore included his corps as late reinforcements.

Despite having decided to include Wallmoden, I must confess that I have been unable to exactly discover what the strength and composition was of his corps.  George Nafziger shows his division at the commencement of operations as belonging to the Austrian Reserve and comprising only a single brigade of four Rhenish battalions (Reuss, Ysenburg, Fulda and Frankfurt), commanded by Generalmajor Graf Ysenburg-Büdingen.  One board-game of the battle shows Wallmoden’s corps as comprising ‘Landwehr’ of indeterminate nationality.

Lieutenant General Stewart, the British liaison officer to the Austrian Imperial Headquarters, reported on 25th June that Wallmoden had “ten battalions and a regiment of Austrian cavalry” blockading Landau and went on to say that “four thousand men and some squadrons… will be left before Landau.”  However, Lt Col Jenkinson, being much closer to the action, reported that only a ‘small detachment’ had been left at Landau, which does suggest a much smaller number than 4,000 (a force of that size would have represented a very large chunk (possibly the majority) of Wallmoden’s ten battalions).

Digby Smith states that Wallmoden had six battalions and four squadrons present at Seltz on 26th June, totaling approximately 4,800 men, which would suggest that there was more than just the Rhenish brigade.  Lt Col Jenkinson meanwhile, mentions the heroic presence at Seltz of a Major General Wrede (not to be confused with the Bavarian army commander of the same name), who led the ‘Lunebourg and Frankfort battalions’.  The ‘Frankfort’ (Frankfurt) battalion is certainly one of the Rhenish units mentioned above, but the ‘Lunebourg’ battalion must surely be a mistake (Lüneburg being a Hanoverian city that at the time was providing two battalions to Wellington’s army).  Jenkinson’s spelling of people and place names is fairly random, so might this battalion perhaps have been a Baden Landwehr battalion from the city of Laufenburg?

At the end of the Battle of La Souffel, one account mentioned that the only remaining threat to Rapp’s army was ‘Wallmoden’s cavalry’, which must presumably refer to the above-mentioned four Austrian squadrons (almost certainly belonging to the 1st ‘Kaiser’ Chevaulégers).

From all of this, it would appear that Wallmoden had taken a portion of the Baden General Graf Hochberg’s Division under command.  According to Nafziger, Hochberg at the start of the campaign had Stockmayer’s Brigade (1st, 2nd & 3rd Württemberg Land-Regiments (i.e. Landwehr), a Württemberg battery and a Hessen-Darmstädt Landwehr Battalion), Volkmann’s Brigade (1st, 5th & 8th Baden Landwehr Battalions, 4th (Landwehr) Battalion of Austrian IR 63 ‘Bianchi’, Austrian Chevauléger-Regiment #1 ‘Kaiser’ and two Austrian 3pdr foot batteries) and La Roche-Starkenfeld’s Brigade (three unidentified battalions of Baden Landwehr and the Baden Jäger Corps).  According to Lieutenant General Stewart, Hochberg was tasked with taking Volkmann’s Brigade, ‘some Hessen-Darmstädt troops’ (the Landwehr battalion, presumably?) and two squadrons of the ‘Kaiser’ Chevaulégers to invest Neu-Breisach.  If the remainder were left with Wallmoden, that would amount to the above-mentioned ten battalions and four squadrons.  Assuming that one brigade was left behind to cover Landau, that would leave Wallmoden with six battalions and four squadrons, so this seems possible.

I’m also guessing that Wrede replaced had La Roche-Starkenfels as commander of the Baden Landwehr?  I’ve arbitrarily included Wrede on the label sheet, anyway.  La Roche-Starkenfels does however, appear slightly later in the story, being wounded and captured by the 57ème de Ligne while in command of some Allied cavalry during a skirmish outside Strasbourg.

Anyway, this is a lot of research, waffle and speculation to then just make a wild-arsed guess as to the composition of a very small formation that probably won’t do very much, but that’s how I roll… 🙂

The French Army of the Rhine (V Corps) Order of Battle

Général de Division Baron Jean Rapp
10”G(10)+2 [7M] [6F] (5 Free Rolls)

15ème Division – Général de Division Henri Rottembourg           4”G(7)+1
Garbe’s Brigade #1 (39ème & 40ème de Ligne)                                     24 FrLN [14D]
Pouart’s Brigade (52ème & 104ème de Ligne)                                       20 FrLN [12D]

16ème Division – Général de Division Baron Joseph Jean-Baptiste Albert  4”G(7)+1
Beurmann’s Brigade (10ème Légère)                                                       20 FrLT [12D]
Sabatier’s Brigade (32ème de Ligne)                                                        12 FrLN [7D]
Cressonier’s Brigade (18ème & 57ème de Ligne)                                   24 FrLN [14D]

17ème Division – Général de Division Baron Charles-Louis-Dieudonné Grandjean      3”A(7)+0
Nempe’s Brigade (36ème & 103ème de Ligne)                                        24 FrLN [14D]
Laurain’s Brigade (17ème & 58ème de Ligne)                                          24 FrLN [14D]

7ème Division du Cavallerie-Légère – Général de Division Comte Christophe Antoine Merlin      3”A(5)+0
Grouval’s Brigade (2ème & 7ème Chasseurs à Cheval)                          8 FrLC [5D]
Rambourg’s Brigade (2ème Hussards, 11ème Dragons & 13ème Ch à Ch) 16 FrLC [10D]
1/2ème Artillerie à Cheval                                                                             Fr8#

Artillery Reserve – Colonel Aime-Prosper Saint-Cyr                          3”A(6)+0
5/4ème Artillerie à Pied                                                                                  Fr12#
?/4ème Artillerie à Pied                                                                                  Fr12#
?/2ème Artillerie à Cheval                                                                              Fr8#

Reserve Division – Général de Division Sigismond Frédéric de Berckheim  4”A(5)+0
1er Brigade (Garde Nationale)                                                                       16 FrNGI [10D]
2ème Brigade (Garde Nationale)                                                                   16 FrNGI [10D]

French Order of Battle Notes

1.  The Napoleon’s Battles site seems to have finally died, so I can no longer access the generalship ratings database, which is a shame.  However, I’ve already got most of the generals listed in other scenarios and I’m using the generalship ratings from the 1st Edition Red Module for Rottembourg.  Prosper St-Cyr isn’t listed, so I’ve given him very average stats.

2.  There is enormous uncertainty and disagreement regarding the identity of the French brigade commanders, but I’ve gone with the list suggested during a detailed discussion in the now-defunct Napoleon Series forum.  Rapp’s memoir also mentions some others, which I will discuss below.

3.  Colonel Prosper St-Cyr, the commander of the artillery reserve (ordinarily Commanding Officer of the 5th Artillery Regiment, which supplied the 8-pounder foot batteries to the infantry divisions), may also take command of Merlin’s horse battery if it falls within his command-span.  The batteries of St-Cyr’s Artillery Reserve may alternatively be commanded by any divisional commander and they may be deployed with divisions at the start of the game, though not with the 10ème Légère detachment at Lampertheim.

4.  General Boulart’s history (found on The Napoleon Series) lists the two batteries of horse artillery as being equipped with Gribeauval 8-pounders.  This was also true of the four batteries of light foot artillery present (one with each infantry division), though these aren’t represented in Napoleon’s Battles.  Although the French Army had standardised years before on the An XI 6-pounder as its standard light artillery piece, Gribeauval 4-pounders and 8-pounders had re-emerged from the arsenals to replace losses suffered 1812-1814.  There had also been an ideological drive by ultra-Royalist artillery commanders during the Restoration to return to the Gribeauval system and purge the Republican An XI system from the order of battle.  Napoleon’s Army of the North was still using An XI 6-pounders, but here on the Rhine they had 8-pounders.

5.  Players may prefer to even up Merlin’s two cavalry brigades to 12 figures apiece instead of 8 and 16.

6.  If desired at the start of the game, the 10ème Légère (Beurmann’s brigade of Albert’s 16ème Division) may occupy the village of Mundolsheim, which has been prepared for defence.  In addition, a battalion-sized detachment consisting of 8 figures may also garrison the village of Lampertheim, which has similarly been fortified.  Separate labels for the two parts of the 10ème Légère are included in the label-sheet (below) if this option is taken.

7.  Général de Brigade Beurmann is recorded by Rapp as being in command of the 10ème Légère.  This must have been Jean Ernest Beurmann, whose biography does mention him commanding a brigade of Albert’s 16th Division (the only other General Beurmann committed suicide in April 1815).  However, Nafziger’s order of battle shows Général de Brigade Sabatier as commanding both the 10ème Légère and 32ème de Ligne.  I’ve therefore inserted Beurmann into the order of battle as commanding the 10ème Légère, though it’s possible that he might simply have taken over the whole brigade from Sabatier.

8.  Another general mentioned in Rapp’s account but not appearing in Nafziger’s order of battle, is Général de Brigade Gudin.  I’ve worked out that this was Pierre César Gudin des Bardières, brother of the more famous Général de Division Charles Étienne César Gudin de la Sablonnière, who was killed in Russia.  According to one biography, Gudin commanded a brigade in Rottembourg’s 15th Division at La Souffel, though I don’t know which regiments he commanded or who he replaced.

9.  Yet another officer mentioned by Rapp but not by Nafziger is Général de Brigade Fririon.  I’ve managed to establish that this was Joseph François Fririon, whose biography does mention that he was serving ‘in Strasbourg’ during the Hundred Days.  He should not be confused with the slightly more famous and more senior Général de Division François-Nicolas Fririon, who was then holding a command in Paris (even though several websites use the same portrait for both men!).  Both men enlisted in the Artois Regiment, albeit nine years apart (in 1782 and 1791), so may have been related.

10.  A board-game of the battle has a completely different set of French brigade commanders.  I’ve no idea what the source is, but it does include the above-mentioned Beurmann, Gudin and Fririon, so has the ring of truth about it, though it also shows ‘Prince Eugène of Württemberg’ as the Allied commander, so should be treated with some suspicion.  The list shows Rottembourg’s 15th Division as having Gudin and Montagnier, Albert’s 16th Division with Beurmann and Voyrol and Grandjean’s 17th Division with Fririon and Dandlau.  Although I’ve included Beurmann in my order of battle, I’ll leave the rest as per Nafziger’s version until I can find some better information (Voyrol was certainly Colonel of the 18ème de Ligne and not a General, though may have been temporarily in command of a brigade).

Terrain Notes

River La Souffel – This is impassable to artillery and cavalry (it was described as such in a dispatch by Lieutenant Colonel George Jenkinson of the Royal Horse Artillery, the British liaison officer to the Crown Prince of Württemberg).  Infantry may pass over the river, treating it as 2 inches of rough terrain.  The defender also benefits from a +1 defensive modifier.

River Ill – This large river cuts across the eastern corner of the table and is impassable to all troop-types, except at the marked (fortified) bridge.

Streams – These are passable to infantry, cavalry and limbered artillery and are treated as one inch of rough terrain.  They do not cause disorder to crossing units, but do give the defender a +1 defensive modifier.

Bridges and Fords – These allow all troop types to pass over a watercourse without penalty, provided the unit is in March Column, Column or Limbered formation.  The defender still gains the +1 defensive modifier.

Hills – The terrain is very gently rolling, though there are significant low hills and ridges, which serve to block line of sight and simultaneously provide artillery with improved lines of fire from the crests.  I would only apply the usual +1 defensive combat modifier where the defender is holding the second contour of a two-level hill.  If you’re short of terrain, the map can be simplified by treating the map as mostly flat, ignoring the lower level of contours and only including hills were there is a second contour level.

Woods – The woods are classed as rough terrain for all troop types, though are relatively open and are not disordering.

Villages – Most villages provide the defender with a -2 cover modifier and a +1 combat modifier.  The smaller villages may only accommodate a detachment of up to 8 figures, while the larger villages (Mundolsheim, Hönheim and Reichstett) may be garrisoned by a single brigade of any size.

Lampertheim & Mundolsheim Villages – These villages have been prepared for defence and have a -2 cover modifier and a +2 combat modifier, in addition to any +1 modifier for crossing a river/stream.

Bischheim and Hönheim Villages – These villages have a line of entrenchments and redoubts along their western side (as shown by the black chevrons on the map).  These were built in previous years as part of the outer defences for the city of Strasbourg.  Any units defending the village have a +3 combat modifier against any assault from that side, but a +1 modifier against attacks from any other direction (i.e. treat them as part of the village defences, rather than additional redoubts).  Any attached batteries on the western side of these villages will also gain the -2 cover modifier and +3 combat modifier (i.e. although the batteries are deployed just outside the village, they still benefit from the cover provided by surrounding entrenchments).

Redoubts and Entrenchments – The gap between the villages of Bischheim and Hönheim is also heavily entrenched, as are both ends of the bridge over the River Ill at Englisch-Hof.  These entrenchments provide the defender with a -2 cover modifier and a +2 combat modifier in their front arc only.

Deployment

All French units may be deployed in any formation, within the formation-boxes shown on the map.  As mentioned above, the 10ème Légère (Beurmann’s Brigade) of Albert’s 16th Division have the option of garrisoning Mundolsheim and/or deploying an 8-figure detachment to garrison the village of Lampertheim.

All Allied units will march on to the table as per their reinforcement schedule.  Their army morale rating will increase as reinforcements arrive.

If the umpire is feeling generous, General Rapp may be allowed to deploy his forces anywhere south of the La Souffel.  However, given the various divisions’ previous manoeuvres, I would insist that the general position of the two forward divisions should remain the same; i.e. Rottembourg’s 15th Division on the right and Albert’s 16th Division on the left.  Grandjean’s 17th Division, Merlin’s Light Cavalry Division, Berckheim’s Reserve Division and St-Cyr’s Artillery Reserve may be deployed as Rapp sees fit.

Game & Reinforcement Schedule

See the map below for Allied reinforcement arrival points.

1400hrs (Turn 1):  The Crown Prince of Württemberg, FML Palombini, Palombini’s Austrian Division (commanded by GM Kinsky) and Prince Emil’s Hesse-Darmstädt Division arrive deployed in any formation, anywhere between Point A & Point B.  The Allied Army Morale rating is now 3M.

1430hrs (Turn 2):  GL Franquemont, Koch’s 1st Württemberg Division, Döring’s 2nd Württemberg Division and the Württemberg 12pdr Foot Battery arrive in March Column formation on either of the two roads at Point B and Point C (they may arrive as a single column or in two separate divisional columns).  Prince Adam’s Württemberg Cavalry Division may arrive deployed in any formation, anywhere between Point A & Point C.  The Allied army morale rating is now 8M.

1700hrs (Turn 7):  Wallmoden’s German Division arrives in March Column formation on either of the two roads at Point D.  The Allied army morale rating is now 9M.

2100hrs (Turn 14):  The game ends at the end of the French turn.

I do not recommend using the Variable Arrival Time optional rule for this scenario.

Unit Labels